Miami, Mario Cristobal still have the respect of Dabo Swinney

The Miami Hurricanes have seen some of the most severe ups and downs in college football so far this season, starting 5-5 with a 3-3 conference record. On the field, there have been various problems which have haunted Mario Cristobal on offense and defense, but that does not mean it has lost its historic clout with opposing teams.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney knows the coaching ability of Mario Cristobal, as well as the culture he is attempting to build with a group of talented players on the current roster. Paired with the brand of the program, Clemson knows it cannot overlook its upcoming opponent.

“No question, I’ve got a lot of respect for Miami,” said Swinney in his Tuesday press conference. “I’ve got a long history with these guys going all the way back to playing days. This is a – again, they’ve had some maybe not the type of seasons they wanted – but I think Mario’s gonna do a great job. Again, they’ve got a great staff, it’s a beautiful university. They’ve got as a good a tradition out there – they’ve won a bunch of championships over the years.

“My only concern is Saturday. And it only takes one good day, and these guys are capable of lining up and playing with anybody on any given day. So that’s my focus is finding a way to win this week.”

Dabo Swinney provides injury updates ahead of Miami game

Clemson bounced back from their upset loss against Notre Dame with a 31-16 home win over Louisville on Saturday. The Tigers secured the win without a key player on each side of the ball, missing linebacker Trenton Simpson and offensive lineman Walker Parks due to injury.

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“Trenton it was ankle and Walker was in the concussion protocol,” Swinney said.

Simpson is Clemson’s leading tackler with 57 tackles on the season, and Parks is one of their anchors on the offensive line. Their losses were crucial ones, but Swinney is confident that both of them will return to the lineup sooner than later for the Tigers.

“Hopefully he’ll be back next week, he just couldn’t go this week, and same thing with Walker,” Swinney said. “They were both kind of close but not to the point where they would clear them to play, so hopefully, both of those guys will be back next week.”

Clemson’s latest win secured their spot in the ACC Championship game following the regular season, and hopefully for them, they can enter that matchup at full strength with a fully starting lineup.